Vancouver Fire Department has confirmed that 20 fires in the city on Halloween were caused by fireworks, resulting in a total of $360,000 worth of damages.
With this in mind, not all of the fires from last night were caused by fireworks. In fact, the most costly blaze of the evening, the one that broke out in a high-rise in the city’s West End, wasn’t caused by fireworks.
Vancouver Is Awesome spoke to Ray Bryant, assistant chief, about what caused the blaze, as well as how much damage was caused by fireworks on Halloween night.
“We had a busy night,” Bryant said. “There were a total of 36 fires in the evening and into the wee hours of the morning, and 20 of those were caused by fireworks.”
Bryant notes that 14 of the fires were outdoors, and were likely caused by abandoned material. These fires happen when roman candles and other explosive pyrotechnic devices are left near shrubs, trees, garbage cans and piles of leaves, he said.
He reported that the most damaging instance caused by fireworks was on a single-family residence near 41st and Dunbar. He explains that the family was lighting off fireworks in their front yard and accidentally discharged one onto their roof.
As for the total cost of the damages?
“That one residence resulted in $250,000 worth of losses,” he says. “And we had a total of $360,000 in losses last night.”
Bryant says that a total of four structures caught fire as a result of fireworks, as well as two vehicles.
As far as the total losses for the evening are concerned, however, Bryant said that they are substantially higher.
“That’s around $3 million.”
While the exact cause of the high-rise fire hasn’t been disclosed, Bryant says that they believe it to be electrical.
Bryant also notes that the department is aware of two young people who were injured as a result of fireworks. One burnt their hands, while the other had a serious facial injury.
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